Chris Backe's Blog, page 90

26 Safety Tips While Traveling, From A to Z

Yes, the A to Z is intentional – I have a quick tip for each letter of the alphabet to stay safe while traveling.

Allergies are a reality, and awareness of them still lacking in some parts of the world. Lookup the local ways of saying ‘I can’t eat…’, or get a card made with the language(s) and allergies you have. Brokerfishand Safe Fare has free (but general) cards, while Allergy Translation helps you make custom cards to print off. Be aware of your surroundings and act like you know where...

Renewing your US passport in Bogota, Colombia

Once a decade, an event comes along that you can’t miss…

No, really, you can’t miss it. So many problems if you do. Despite the typical bureaucracy found in most embassies, I’m happy to report things are straightforward for the most part.

A quick disclaimer: the official embassy site is over atbogota.usembassy.gov, and nothing here should be taken as official advice, yadda yadda yadda.

Step one: make sure you have everything

If you fit the most common case of renewing, you can walk right in...

Photo essay: the ‘Bogota graffiti’ edition

This one’s all about the pictures – enjoy!

Hope you've enjoyed this post, which first appeared at Photo essay: the ‘Bogota graffiti’ edition on One Weird Globe.

Random pictures, the Bogota edition

It’s been awhile since I’ve numbered the Random Pictures posts, but a quick look says we’re closing in on 100 of them over the years… Enjoy this edition from Bogota, Colombia.

Starting off is one of the more unusual sights I’ve seen in Bogota thus far.Seen on the walking street (along Carrera 7) in the La Candelaria area is this low-stakes betting game. A guinea pig starts about 10 meters from these bowls, and people bet on which bowl it enters. Play by putting a coin on top of the bowl you...

On the purge, and what you leave behind

With our time in Bogota coming to an end the day after this post goes live, the one sucky part of expat life must emerge:

The Purge.

(This postis the first in an ongoing series that aims to show the behind-the-scenes of our lives as nomadic expats.)

On one level I sort of envy the minimalists who can fit / cram everything they own into a backpack. We’re not quite there yet – during our flight into Bogota from Medellin, I was hit with the classic ‘heavy bag’ fee. (Laura would have had to payi...

A recap of 2015, and what’s to come in 2016

We’re quickly closing in on what much of the world calls a new year, so let’s take a look back on the year that was (the Lunar New Year celebrated throughout Asia isn’t until February 8th, but we’re not in Asia anymore)…

Januarystarted in Krabi, Thailand andworking on the Choose a Way Philadelphia (the first one in the choose-your-adventure-in-real-life series not written by me). I was still working on getting the structure / format standardized, and the author, Jim Cheney was a good sport....

December 24th: where to buy a machete, from Offbeat Thailand

(This is an excerpt from my newest book, Offbeat Thailand. More on that in a minute.) Ayutthaya sword village: Buy a machete at wholesale prices 84/4 Moo 3 Tachang, Nakornluang, Ayutthaya, 13260 (GPS: 14.50167,100.65150)

Admission: free. Hours: best visited from 10am-5pm. The home of sword and weapon-making for hundreds of years, the Arunyik village is still the source for knives, machetes, and plenty of other traditional Thai sharp edges today. Said quickly, it sounds like ‘ironic’, w...

December 23rd: a weird plastic surgery museum, from Offbeat Korea

BK Plastic Surgery Museum Seoul, Gangnam-gu, Nonhyeon-dong, 1-2 (2nd floor) BK 성형외과박물관 – 서울특별시 강남구 논현동 1-2 2층 (GPS: 37.516090, 127.020452)

Admission: free. Open 9am-7pm Monday-Thursday (until 9pm on Friday), 9am-5pm on Saturday, 10am-2pm on Sundays and holidays. More info at english.bkhospital.com. Located on the second floor of a fifteen-story building dedicated to plastic surgery of all kinds, the ’museum’ is essentially an extension of the waiting room. Since the hospital serves inte...

December 22nd: an awesome vintage market, from Choose a Way Bangkok

(This is an excerpt from my book, Choose a Way Bangkok. More on that in a minute.)

Papaya Vintage Market

306/1 Soi Lat Phrao 55/2, Lat Phrao Rd, Wang Thonglang

GPS: 13.794239,100.597225 – link to Google Maps

Admission: free – open 9:30am-6pm everyday

Yes, that is in fact eight Jar-Jar Binks doing the conga in the photo above. It’s just a taste of what you’ll find here – while most of what you see is indeed for sale, the market is better thought of a display area for the oddball offering...

December 21st: Formalities and honorifics, from Korean Made Easy

(This is an excerpt from my newest book, Korean Made Easy. More on that in a minute.)

About formalities and honorifics

Koreans have long followed a fairly strict social hierarchy. While not a religion, the Confucianism mindset still pervades the country today. When you see a young person giving their seat on the subway to an older person, you’re seeing one modern-day example of Confucianism. Even today, you’ll see an old person getting almost anything they want because of their age – and...